Songs for the Lord’s Supper Part 1

On Tuesday we posted an article by Gary McBride on singing hymns at the Lord’s Supper. One comment we received was a request listing appropriate songs for the Lord’s Supper. It was an excellent request so here is a list of some songs that are suitable for corporate worship.

The melodies may not appeal to everyone but the criteria for selecting these are content first and the melody second. Obviously music is very subjective so I am sure not all of these will appeal to everyone.

We will post articles like this periodically and please send in some suggestions in the comments section below. I have added some personal notes about the songs where I felt was needed.

How Deep the Father’s Love for us by Stuart Townend

Some may have trouble with the line “The Father turns His face away.”

In Christ Alone by Keith Getty/Stuart Townend

The line “From life’s first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny.” may lean towards a Calvinistic view but I sing it as referring to my life in Christ not from birth.

Before the Throne of God Above by Charitie Lees Bancroft/Vikki Cook

This is actually an old hymn written with a new tune.

Here I Am to Worship by Tim Hughes

Lamb of God by Andi Rozier, Jason Ingram, Meredith Andrews

He Paid a Debt by Ellis J. Crum

Often sung as Sunday School but excellent words for the Lord’s Supper.

Jesus Messiah by Daniel Carson; Ed Cash; Jesse Reeves; Chris Tomlin

This melody took a little longer to learn but once learned is a big favorite.

All I have is Christ by Jordan Kauflin

God of Grace by Keith Getty & Jonathon Rea

Here is Love by Steve and Vikki Cook/William Rees

Crawford Paul

Crawford is an elder at Rolling Meadows Bible Chapel in Ontario and has a passion for the assemblies. He and his wife Beth serve in various ways within the assembly to build up and encourage the believers. He is president of Legacy Ministries Canada, an organization focused on helping individual Christians, local churches and Christian organizations with financial, legal and governance matters. Check it out at legacycanada.org

Traveling around, as I do, come across many of those suggested already. It isn’t a matter of new or old – they were all new at one time. It isn’t even a matter of the tune,since we all have our likes and dislikes. It is a matter of, are the words true to scripture and do they worship the Lord? One other question that we should ask ourselves is; is this worship or entertainment?
Personally,I would love to see some of the very old, and very deep worship songs, brought to a place where the younger (and frankly, some older) folk could understand and use to the glory of the Lord.

Thank you for daring to tackle this topic. Both articles have been helpful to provide a framework for further discussions. Regarding your comments on “How deep the Fathers Love” my wife and I have sung it with the following modifications: instead of “it was my sin that held Him there, until it was accomplished…” we substituted “it was my sin that He did to bear, until it was accomplished…” Additionally you could substitute the words “when God did turn His face away” (instead of “the Father turned His face away”. Obviously there are potential copyright issues that come into play at some point (I’m certainly not an expert on that point either)…

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